Piute Mountain
Ascent of Piute Mountain (East Slope to Southeast Ridge, class 3), June 16, 2019.
Timeline:
June 14, 2019. I left Mammoth at 7:00 and collected my wilderness permit in Bridgeport at 8:00. The ranger (Marcella) warned me about stream crossings and snow cover. I told her I would go and see, and turn back if conditions were hazardous. She asked that I call her with a conditions report upon exit. I departed the trailhead at Twin Lakes at 8:50. It was an easy hike to Barney Lake (10:30), where I met a hiker named Todd, from Mammoth, who runs the www.hikingmammoth.com website. After Barney Lake, things got spicy. The crossing of Robinson Creek uphill from Barney Lake was easy enough, but the woods beyond were a mess of snow and hundreds of random streams carrying the runoff from this year's record snowfall. It took me a while to find the switchbacks leading to Peeler Lake, and I wasted a lot of time, the trail being covered in snow. Snow was intermittent above 8,500 ft and continuous above 9,000 ft. I reached Peeler Lake at 15:43, only 8 miles and 7 hours in! By then it was clear there was no way I could hike the 18 miles to my intended camp below Piute Mountain in one day. I proceeded past Peeler Lake (some spicy steep snow to skirt the lake) and set up camp in upper Kerrick Meadow, on one of the rare dry outcroppings near Rancheria Creek. I was in camp at 18:00 and in bed at 20:30. I slept like a log. (A 9:10 hour day, 2,500 feet of elevation gain, 10.6 miles).
June 15, 2019. I left camp at 8:03 and proceeded at a moderate pace southward along Rancheria Creek – snow coverage was continuous, though the travel conditions were good (firm snow). I crossed Rancheria Creek shortly before the trail starts to ascend to Seavey Pass – water about knee high. I was at Seavey Pass at 12:00, and set up camp shortly before 14:00 just below the East Slope of Piute Mountain, at an elevation of 8,500 ft. In the evening around 17:00, while eating soup, I met 3 PCT hikers making their way to Seavey Pass. One of them stopped to chat. His trail name was Grumpy Bear, from Hamburg, Germany. He said he started on March 3 from the US-Mexico border, and started the Sierra portion from Kennedy Meadows in early May – a strikingly slow pace. He said some days there was so much postholing he could only cover 5 miles. I went to bed early and again slept like a log. (A 5:57 hour day, 200 feet of elevation gain, 7.4 miles).
June 16, 2019. I left camp at 7:32 and hiked up the East Slope of Piute Mountain, intending to gain the NE ridge. I traversed diagonally (too far south) up sometimes steep snow and ended up at the base of the SE Ridge instead. More steep snow and some exposed class 3 rock took me to the crest of that ridge, and then it was an easy ½ mile gentle hike to the summit. I was on the summit of Piute Mountain at 10:58, signed the register (going back to 1974) and had a snack. I left the summit at 11:22 and retraced my steps exactly. That rock at the head of the cirque leading to the SE Ridge really was 3rd class, and much more intimidating on the way down! I was in camp at 13:23. In all, what should have been an easy hike in normal conditions turned into a 5:51 hour mountaineering adventure, on account of the snow conditions.
I lounged in camp for two hours, had lunch, packed up and left at 15:30. I was feeling great, but the weather took a turn for the worse. For about an hour I heard distant thunder but the clouds seemed thin so I pushed on. Soon they became more menacing so I started to look for a camp. I found a dry spot on a rocky outcropping, just North of Seavey Pass proper, in full view of Piute Mountain. Just as the tent fly was up (17:00) rain started to pour down. I heard more PCT hikers walk by that evening but did not come out to talk. The rain stopped around 18:30 and by then I deemed it too late to proceed, so I stayed put for the night. While having dinner, I saw that my right boot was in trouble. This was an old pair of Salomon snowshoeing boots I had purchased about 20 years before, and the plastic was rotten – the sole was coming apart from the upper – threatening to come off completely. I taped it, hoping this would hold the boot together for the return. (A 7:21 hour day, 2,600 feet of elevation gain, 5.3 miles).
June 17, 2019. I thought I was going to have an easier day returning (albeit long – about 15 miles), but it did not happen. First, I forgot my ice axe in camp. Thankfully, I noticed his after only about 15 minutes of leaving camp. Back up I went (11 minutes) and down (10 minutes). I had left camp at 7:34, so with all that, really, 7:55. I proceeded at a nice clip down to Kerrick Canyon to once again follow Rancheria Creek, this time northward. It was OK, except for some occasional postholing (99% of travel was on snow). I re-crossed Rancheria Creek at the same spot as two days prior, but the water was waist high this time, and the current strong. I stopped for lunch in the location of my first camp at 12:30.
It soon became apparent that the weather was taking a turn for the worst – much earlier than on the previous day. Just before Peeler Lake, at 14:00, it started to rain and hail strongly, with thunder all around. I found a spot in a tree-well to pitch my tent, and spent an hour waiting for the heavy rain to stop, and trying to keep things dry. It was a good call to stop, and to do so in the trees! After about an hour, I was able to pack up and start hiking again, skirting Peeler Lake, going down the snow covered trail and emerging switchbacks on the other side. It continued to drizzle intermittently, but by now I was set on exiting that day. At the base of the switchbacks, where they meet Robinson Creek, I thought I would be stopped for good – everything was in flood conditions, the trail washed out and a massive tree stump standing in the way. I climbed over the tree stump and crossed the "stream" (really a huge waterfall) to end up on talus. Thankfully, this was marked with cairns, indicating a class 2-3 alternative to the fording of Robinson Creek. This I thought to be quite convenient, and I soon found myself in a grove of aspens about 0.75 miles Southwest of Barney Lake. By then I figured I was out of trouble, but it started to rain massively! Also, the tape on my boot gave way, so I used a spare lace to try to tie together the sole and the upper. It held. It was now 17:30 and I still had over 5 miles to Twin Lakes. I cruised down the Robinson Creek drainage, reaching my car at 19:51. A nice lady even offered to take a photo of me! (A 12:17 hour day, counting 1.5 hours for lunch and a weather stop, 800 feet of elevation gain, 16.5 miles).